1. Description of the Prior Art
Bar code scanners have, in the past, taken in the form of a wand or pen type scanner. The wand or pen contains a light source which is used to illuminate a bar code label. Reflected light from the label is read by a photo cell on a point-by-point basis. As the wand is manually scanned across the bar code, the black and white portions of the code are read by sensing changes in the intensity of the reflected light. These prior art scanners use significantly more power than the flash type reader of the present invention. Also, the flash type reader is an instant reader, while the wand type scanner requires slow and careful manual movement of the wand across the label.
2. Field of the Invention
The field of art to which this invention pertains is bar code scanning devices, and, in particular, to portable or hand-held units for reading bar code labels and for inputting data therefrom into a hand-held data entry and storage unit.